By Chris Williams: IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. gave Terence Crawford a warning last Saturday night that he’s coming for his WBO belt after ripping the WBA belt from the old-timer Yordenis Ugas courtesy of a tenth round beat down stoppage.
(Photo credit: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
It’s going to be good for Spence to show that Crawford was never in his league, making a name off of old guys like Amir Khan & Kell Brook.
The 34-year-old Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs), who is roughly as old as Ugas, is next in Spence’s crosshairs to snatch his title before moving up to 154 in 2023. It’s not personal for Spence (28-0, 22 KOs). He just wants Crawford’s WBO title, and then that’s it with him.
Errol had an interesting fight with the Cuban warrior Ugas (27-5, 12 KOs) last Saturday night at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
It was painful to watch from the seventh round on, as Spence beat the hapless Ugas like a drum, nailing him with nonstop shots until the contest was halted in the tenth due to Yordenis’ right eye being closed shut.
You can argue the fight should have been stopped by the eighth round, considering Ugas was taking a beating, no longer punching, absorbing one-way punishment at the hands of the younger and stronger Spence.
Aside from a brief situation in the sixth in which Spence’s mouthpiece fell out, it was a punishing one-sided affair with Errol dishing out punishment to Ugas for ten rounds.
Spence revealed that he thought he heard the referee call timeout in round six when his mouthpiece slipped out.
When Spence turned around to go pick up his mouthpiece, Ugas saw his window of opportunity and began unloading on the 2008 U.S Olympian. Some boxing fans mistakenly thought Ugas had Spence hurt, but that wasn’t the case.
He was perfectly fine, as he immediately showed once his mouthpiece was put back in his mouth in the sixth. For the remainder of the round, Spence tore into Ugas with a vengeance, nailing him with body shots one after another that had him bending forward to brace for them.
Interestingly, Ugas kept that posture for the remainder of the fight as Spence continued to pelt him with body shots that seemed to go right through him like a hot knife through butter.
“Everybody knows who I want next. I want Terence Crawford next,” said Spence after the fight in sending a warning shot to the Nebraska native. That’s the fight I want, that’s the fight everybody else wants.
“I’ve got these straps, I’m gonna go take his shit, too. Man down. It’s strap season, baby. Terence, I’m coming for that mother f**** belt.”
Spence looked outstanding last night for a fighter that hadn’t seen action since his fight against Danny Garcia in December 2020.
Coming off a 16-month layoff, eye surgery, Spence looked excellent in displaying the kind of form that he had back in 2017 when he recorded his career-best win over Kell Brook.
